We have arrived!

Hello People!

Well my husband and I are at the hotel where the 2010 National Sweepstakers Convention is being held in Minnesota. We are actually staying at the same hotel where the 2000 LPA National Convention was held, which is the last LPA convention that I'd actually been to, and the only convention that my husband has ever been to. This hotel (Sheraton) is a great hotel and so far we are very pleased with everything that they have to offer. The food in the restaurant is a little over priced in my opinion, but we ate everything on our plate this afternoon. It was VERY tasty!

Stevie and I actually arrived late last night. We were on the road for almost 12 hours and by the time we got into our rooms, I was dead dog tired and all my muscles ached! Even though the beds are comfortable, the pillows were a little too big and I had a sore neck when I woke up. I'm glad we thought to bring a couple of our own pillows with us. I am hoping tonight is a little better in the sleeping department. But the showers here were nice and hot, which helped eased my muscles!

We haven't done too much today, as the sweepstakes convention doesn't really start until Thursday night and officially on Friday morning. We thought that we would do best, if we arrived early, so that we didn't have to rush and could relax before everything begins. I am glad we did too, as we got a good parking space as well as small fridge for our room.

I am planning on writing more about the convention while I am here, as well as take some photos. I also brought my little flip mini camcorder which I won, from the Hotels.com contest, which I am still hoping that people are remembering to vote for me.

We are also hoping to attend the Minnesota State Fair before we leave. I've only been to the state Fairs in Texas and I would love to see how they compare with another state. I am also hoping to take pictures if we make it out there too. Plus, from what I understand there are lot of opportunities to enter for prizes.

Tomorrow, Stevie and I are planning on finding the nearest post office, so that we can buy the stamps which are needed for the raffles, which are held on Saturday during the banquet. This year's raffles include:

First Class Stamps
Post Cards Stamps
USPS Postcards
Minnesota Lottery Scratch Off Tickets
Gift Cards
Cash

I will be sure and write and let everyone know if we win any of the raffles. Last year, I won 500 first class stamps. The year before, I won Stamps and Lottery Tickets. No big winner on the Lottery tickets, but wouldn't that be something, if someone here wins one of the big ones from a scratch off ticket? This year, I would love to win Cash or Gift Cards. I will be a "little" broke by the time we get home, but that's ok as this is Stevie's main vacation for the year.

Well, I think I am off to rest a little bit more and to try and enter a few more sweeps. I know that once the convention starts, there won't be much time for me to do it. I will be spending too much time talking to other people that share the love of this wonderful hobby, while my husband enjoys his Guinness!

Take Care Everyone

Lisa

Thought I'd pop in

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd take a moment and write a little bit.  As far as my wins goes, I got a few to report.

2 movie tickets
Make up from Lord knows where
T-shirt from Facebook sweep
but my biggest win was from the Hotels.com sweep and even though it's not the big one from there (yet) I won the flip mini camercorder from the daily entry with the most votes.  So thank you so much for all your help, and hopefully you won't mind continuing voting for me.  I still would love to win the Grand Prize of $102,000!  and i know that with the help of family, friends, blog readers, and more, I could.  Anything is possible, is what I tell myself.

I am also no longer trying to enter 10 daily snail mail sweeps.  After seven months of it, I began to get burn out in this hobby, and I even started back on another interest of mine, which is playing World of Warcraft! (btw..I'm on Echo Isles if anyone is interested! LOL)  So now I am trying to get back into the swing of entering.  I think I needed the break to be honest.  Entering Sweepstakes should be fun...not a job!  I had begun to think of it as a Jobby (Job/Hobby) and to be honest, I don't need to do that.  I'm fortunate to have a situation where I don't NEED to win things, to have a good life.  All my wins are basically "gravy", so to speak.  Now of course, I do like to win, and I hope and pray a good one is just around the corner.  

At the moment, I am also trying to make arrangements for our yearly Sweepers Convention, which is in two weeks! I'm so excited to be honest, as I love to see all my friends that share in this wonderful hobby.  This year's it's in Minneapolis, MN and I am also looking forward to hopefully seeing the Mall of America as well as the State Fair!  There is nothing like Fair Food, is there? I wonder if I will be able to get my fried Oreo's?  Or Fried Twinkies?  Or Fried Reese's? (Do you see the theme here?)  Thank God the fair is only a once a year thing for most people and for myself, more like a once in ten year treat.  Otherwise, I am pretty sure I would end up with a heart attack at some point in the very near future.

In other news,  I've been out of sorts because I've changed my computer.  I admit it now...I am now a MAC user!  I went out and bought myself one of the new I-Mac's!  I still can't believe I did that, and I *am* slowly getting used to it.  The hardest part was trying to figure out my e-mails.  I entered all my information for my favorite e-mail, which is with G-mail.  This ended up being a HUGE mistake as it tried to download OVER a 160,000 emails! yeah, I basically froze my new Mac!  So I've had to make some changes and I now get all my gmail's and old e-mail accounts on my laptop, which I've had a few years.  It's now the only windows pc we have.  We gave my old computer to my Dad, and hopefully he is now using it to read this blog!  Hi Daddy! :)

Well that's all I can think of to write for now.  What about you guys?  Any wins?  Please feel free to share.  I love hearing about other people's wins, experiences, etc from this wonderful hobby.  One of the things that I am hoping to do while at the National Sweepstakes Convention, is take some photos of the decorated envelopes that are usually submitted for a contest that they have each year.  You will probably be amazed at some of the talent that goes into this.  I know I am each year.  I don't let it get me discouraged though, because most people don't go into that much detail when entering sweepstakes.  Mainly because some people don't want the judging agencies to think that they might be considered a *pro* in entering sweepstakes. 

Ta Ta For Now!
Lisa